Another phony in politics? Really?
One of our readers sent me this email last night;
Please help us out with this turd. I have tried contacting the local media, to no avail.
We (a bunch of crusty azz Marines on a forum) have been birddogging this POS since last year, when we found him telling tall tales to civilians and been chasing him around on the internet since.
They’re talking about this guy Joel David (Duke) Schechter who is running for the Arizona Senate.
Here’s what he’s claiming he earned on Facebook;
Yup, that’s five, count ’em FIVE, Purple Hearts. A Silver Star, two Bronze Stars for valor. USMC Parachutist wings and a Combat Action Ribbon. And, oh, Sergeant rank. All of which don’t show up in the FOIA from POW Net;
I don’t know what those other things are in that picture, but it really doesn’t matter does it?
His political statements are in line with my political beliefs, but who can trust this liar?
COB6 says he recognized that Schechter is really Harry Mudd from Star Trek right off.
Category: Phony soldiers
Not knowing anything about Marine Corps dress uniforms, I can’t speak to the authenticity of this dude’s apparel or not. But REALLY. This just SCREAMS ghey-circus-ringmanster. Jodphers? Gold braid and waist sash? A handlebar moustache straight out of the 1890’s? And those DO look like high-top boots at the bottom of the picture.
W-T-F?
If I’m wrong, I will humbly stand still and take my 30 lashes with a wet noodle. Otherwise, I will continue to giggle,, chuckle and laugh out loud whenever I look at this clown’s photo.
Would any self respecting Marine wear that get-up?? Good grief they make it so easy……
The jodhpurs were a nice touch, cause everybody knows they wore those in Vietnam…not! Seems like phony Marine is the flavor de jure for imposters and wanabees this week. The sword isn’t the enlisted sword either. This guy fits nicely into the POS catagory.
Colonel Mustard, in the conservatory with a lead pipe…did I win?
Navy shoulderboards and mess dress whites with GRAY trousers? Oh, this screams a hundred shades of phony I don’t know whether or not I’d punch his ass or just laugh mine off if I saw this for real.
Curt, you really need to stop with the erotic asphyxiation, it’s depriving you of brain cells that you desperately need. Between choking yourself and your chicken, and smoking whatever it is that you smoke, you’re just floating out from under your tin-foil hat.
Oh great, here we go again… Here’s an idea Curt, why don’t you pretend to have a rational thought.
MORE, “Duke” ramblings, again where he claims to have been Sgt: _____________________________________________________________ “For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. But for the security of the future I would do everything.” –James A. Garfield ………………………………………. After a over a quarter-century, I find myself back in a classroom situation, and…nothing (save the names) has changed — the University of Arizona in 2001 might as well be Berkley in 1971, for the whiners and the cowards and the ‘peace-at-any-price’ spoiled little twits whining in the school newspaper. To say I was surprised when the following, which I wrote in high dudgeon, was actually published, is an understatement: I have read, with increasing disgust and revulsion, the callow ramblings submitted since the attacks on the United States, and have listened to the inane ‘commentary’ of the media. Hello, people, this is not ‘a tragedy’, this is not a ‘disaster’, this is AN ACT OF WAR…wake up and smell the charred flesh. For those who cower in corners, willing to sacrifice ‘some’ freedom for safety, read Ben Franklin on the subject. For those who rejoiced as our military was gutted for ‘entitlement’ programs, and looked down their noses at those ‘rough men’ who chose to serve, read George Orwell on that subject. For those who doubt this country and its freedoms are not worth the cost of their precious little lives, go elsewhere — anywhere — and bear the contempt of over two centuries of your betters. Over three decades ago, for eight weeks, a chorus of ninety-six voices recited: “I am a United States Marine Corps Recruit. I serve in the forces that Guard my country and its way of life. I am prepared to give my life in its defense.” Not anxious, not eager, but if necessary, prepared. As a sergeant of Marines in combat, I made decisions that determined whether other men lived or died. Knowing this, they did not question, they did not hesitate, they went. And yes, some of them did die. Honorably, and for a cause in which they… Read more »
Here is where the “Duke” claims to have been an 0331, in several major engagements in VietNam AND a Drill Instructor, oh and of course a Sgt.
_____________________________________________________________
Since you ask, sonny, Sgt, DOR 01JAN69, 6242, 4634. 8652 (and a few others not ‘official’, including 0331 and UH-34 left seat), RVN 67, 68, 69: Con Thien, Khe Sanh, Hue City, and a few others. HMM-163, HMH-463, HMM-164, 3/26. And I earned the ‘Smoky Bear’ in ’69.
Your language, your attitude, and your apparently inflated sense of self-importance are an insult to many good Marines – and Corpsmen – who’ve been a part of this forum for years, including at least one Tarawa Vet (search the archives) as well as people from your era.
I strongly suggest you lose the attitude, familiarize yourself with our SOPs, and play by our rules in our house: If you continue blundering around like a drunken LCpl in the O Club just to prove how badass you are, you’re not going to be very happy here. You may also notice that I chose to go PM rather than calling you out in the general forum.
——- Duke
His military records say he earned Corporal on the same day he claims he earned Sergeant. And I know whenever we needed a hard-chargin’ rifleman, we always scoured the flightline for mechanics.
He “chose to go PM”? Pre-Menstrual? Is that like medieval?
“I don’t ‘advertise’, there are only a half-dozen people here who’ve actually seen my rack, and I wish 03 hadn’t made that point – it’s not ‘who I am’’….”
Yet, there it is for the whole world to see on his campaign page.
AND here in the “dukes: own words is how he won his 5 Purple Hearts:
_____________________________________________________________
The ‘how’ is simple – a few of us were ‘volunteered’ for a patrol early on during my first tour. I was still ’10 feet tall and bulletproof’ (or young, stupid and healed faster), discovered I liked it, and was good at it, and didn’t need as much sleep in those days. Word got around, so when people were needed I was occasionally asked for, and when I could, I went.
Two of the awards were for the same incident, my ’60 was hit by something, probably an RPG, and I took shrapnel in both hands and legs, but somehow got ‘reported’ as separate incidents. I had a cheekbone broken in hand-to-hand, and got dinged in the thigh and stomach (one on the ground, one in the air) on two other occasions.
I don’t ‘advertise’, there are only a half-dozen people here who’ve actually seen my rack, and I wish 03 hadn’t made that point – it’s not ‘who I am’, and I prefer to be judged on what I currently do or say – during my recent run for political office, all that came out was that I was in the Corps and went to Nam – than what HQMC saw fit to honor me with decades ago. I’d appreciate it if you kept it that way.
—– Duke
AND here is what he sports on TWS:
_____________________________________________________________
Name :
JOEL D SCHECHTER
Service :
Marine Corps
Service Component :
Pay Grade :
E-3
Military Speciality :
6242
Home of Record :
Unknown
State of Residence :
This is what he’s sportin on TWS
HMH-463
HMM-164
CAR,NDSM,VSM,RVCM
AND on Oathkeepers:
_____________________________________________________________
http://oath-keepers.blogspot.com/2009/05/you-can-count-on-this-old-marine-to.html
I am a combat Marine and Vietnam Veteran. I last wore the uniform almost forty years ago, I was honorably discharged from my Marine Corps almost thirty-seven years back. I was never ‘relieved’ of the oath I swore to protect and defend country and Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, nor have I ever desired to be.
I applaud this initiative, and will do all in my power to support it.
You can count on this old Marine to have your ‘six’.
J.D. ‘Duke’ Schechter
Sergeant of Marines – 1966 until transferred to MCB Pearly Gates
http://ElectDuke.com
AND, my personal favorite, the punching a tiger in the face in NAM story: _____________________________________________________________ Night Ambush A Memoir J.D. “Duke” Schechter I really hate being shot at. Okay, maybe not as much as I hate being shot, which truly sucks, but getting shot at is right up there at the top of my shitlist. Now, I get my chance to give some back, up close and personal, for the rockets, the mortars, the long-range sniping. The FNGs were practically drooling at the chance to ‘get some’, or maybe crapping themselves, and the short-timers were caught between ‘payback’ and ‘this better not screw up my seat on the Freedom Bird’, stroking – consciously or unconsciously – whatever lucky talisman, murmuring prayers or curses, thinking each in his own way how he welcomed this little walk in the woods as much as Custer welcomed more Indians. I belonged here about as much as teats belong on a bull: I was an Avionics technician with a top-secret/crypto clearance, a combat photographer, a NATOPS NCO. Then again, every Marine is first and foremost a rifleman, and I was not just an expert rifleman, not just Recon qualified, for the moment, at least, I was a Sergeant of Marines. Of course, I qualified with the M-14, which they took from me this tour and replaced with the Mattel toy, which used a full magazine to stop a charging chihuahua. No sweat, I was now the proud owner of an M-1929 Thompson, capable of stitching perfect vertical lines in the sky when fired in bursts of more than three rounds. Still, it had stopping power. Serious stopping power. Before leaving the base, affectionately known as MCRD Marble Mountain, Chickenshit, Vietnam, we’d gone over, and over, and over the basics. Standard L-shaped ambush, two reinforced platoons, hand-picked from Zulu company. Draw extra ammo, fill and chill two canteens, pad the canteen cups with spare socks, lampblack and M-Nu on shiny surfaces, liberal applications of electrical tape to muffle anything that rang, scraped or clanked, camo makeup. No stink-pretty, no smoking one hour prior to departure –… Read more »
Just to clarify, I dont believe he posted the ribbon rack on his FaceBook. It was posted by those of us ratting this turd out.
The ribbon rack was sent to someone by the “duke” to see if they could put it on a plaque for him.
1stSgt
Third row, left, just to the left of the CAR is the comm–Navy Commendation Medal. With a bronze “V” apparently.
Cheesus, what a maroon. That cinches it, I’m going to find a pair of jodhpurs and start wearing them with a crackerjack jumper, Eisenhower jacket, and my combination cover…worn at a rakish angle.
FWIW, the set of silver wings with the gold stars (3rd from top) are USN Combat Aircrew Wings. You only got those for certain periods of time, and for cumulative missions per star, sort of like the Air Medal. You could probably count on one hand the number of Navy Aircrew authorizes to have 4-stars on their CAC Wings. If I ever meet this fellow, I will personally rectify his situation regarding those wings.
Those wings are, to a Navy or Marine Aircrewman, what a CIB is to an infantryman.
And Curt: Isn’t their a bridge somewhere you’re supposed to be standing under?
“I was an Avionics technician with a top-secret/crypto clearance, a combat photographer, a NATOPS NCO”. Holy shit, I’m so impressed!! An avionics E-3, more than likely, out on the flight line, his top-secret/crypto clearance going to waste, or was he chatting with LBJ over the bird’s radio, in crypto-speak? Just wow, an RPG went off right in front of his face, and he got “shrapnel in both hands and legs”, that’s it?
Jesus. Claymore I haven’t laughed out loud like that in quite a while.
Colonel Mustard he says… you’re killin’ me…
Looks less like a phoney Marine and more like a phony doorman at the Waldorf.
“He “chose to go PM”? Pre-Menstrual? Is that like medieval?”
Jonn–an hour after reading this, I’m still cracking up. I vow to say this phrase at least once today.
i.e.: “…If anybody else asks me again if they can go home early, I’m going to go all PM on your asses!”
Also, TSO–there’s an NSO insignia on there as well. Guys like F-14 RIO’s get those. Not jarheads.
Guys you just don’t realize that he was a part of a super-secret organization thats records got declasified, but most of them were lost in a fire. The uniform he wears is the authorized for the Super-Secret Recon Ranger Sapper Special Air Forces group…
We’ve been batting this douchenozzle around for a while on a Marine forum. He’s been called out on multiple forums and now we’re ganging up on his ass on Facebook. Don’t piss off the shitbird platoon!
I think I see a Battle Of Yavin ribbon on there too.
After all the tall tales and stories, the Stolen Valor . . .the Harry Mudd look-alike is the topper.
THAT sent me off on the giggle-fits.
I hope that the REAL jarheads pound his head (either one) back into the shape and place that it rightfully belongs. . .THEN turn him over to the authoritahs for Stolen Valor.
Claymore I about died on that last one…
I like his defense.
“I have been here (on this forum/facebook) longer. Don’t try and mess with me, I will tell my friend the forum moderator that you are lying.”
That’s how you know he’s telling the truth.
IMHO.
JFK was on the way to give him the CMA for all of the branches when he was killed by the Duke’s wingman… The truth about what they did must never be revealed!
Ohh, also of note: he is one of only four people with the “fifth” freedom or as its better known; the license to kills.
The only other people to have this is James Bond, Sam Fisher, and of course, his wingman.
Well, there’s no such animal as a “NATOPS NCO.” I was a “NATOPS Evaluator”, and that’s what it’s called in the fleet. It means you carry a “NATOPS Blue Card” or just a “Blue Card”. That certifies that you are qualified as an evaluator for check rides at your position on the flight crew. Every year, every single aviator & aircrewman has to have a NATOPS check ride where he or she demonstrates proficiency at their station, including safety and emergency drills, operations and maintenance of their equipment, both onboard the aircraft and your personal flight and survival equipment. It is an honor to have that card, and one not easily obtained. It also means that the cardholder is responsible for a thorough evaluation of the candidate and it isn’t taken lightly.
That this E-3 crapweael is claiming he was a NATOPS certified evaluator chaps my ass. What a maroon.
ok guys, your going to have to help me out here. Is Col. Mustard really claiming to have carried a Tommy Gun in Vietnam? Was the 1929 Thompson standard issue?
It was extremely rare to be encountered there but then again, a super double secret probation high speed death machine like this probably saw one and made it himself using a Kabar and shell casings.
Well, I’m not sure about that Thompson, but when I use the cheat codes, I can usually equip an M1, an M3, dual wield .45’s, not to mention get the Tesla Coil Rifle and for CQB, there’s the Soulblade of Azzinoth…that’s +20 Agility and instant mana drain on any target that fails their saving throw. Epic.
Nice jodphurs… he wore ’em on the Russian Front while he rode up San Juan Hill to attack the Martians who invaded New Jersey with Mickey and Pluto. No Cavalry stetson to top it off?
Ref Comment 22 – the gold wings with shield and crossed anchors are Navay/Marine Flight Officer wings (non-pilot flight MOSs, emphasis on Officer). My son, the Marine Captain wears them as a F/A-18D back seater. So, the UH-34 left seater claim doesn’t fly (sorry), wrong wings and there haven’t been enlisted pilots in the Marines since the early days of WWII. The Eagle Globe and Anchor device is also an officer’s. Enlisted are all gold color. I think this guy just has a thing for bright shiney objects. Hopefully they’ll put him somewhere he can he can spend all day watching the reflections and stay sedated
Ken M. (#34) is correct about the Naval Flight Officer (NFO) wings, second wings from the top (also for Marines and I think also Coast Guard as they all go through the same training together provided by the Navy). They are distinguished from the Naval Aviator wings in that the Naval Aviator wings have one anchor while the NFO wings have crossed anchors. (I drew the Naval Aviatior wings for my son-in-law’s winging banner, so I know pretty well what they look like now, as well as that they are identical to the NFO wings, except for the difference between one anchor and two crossed anchors. I see them all over the place in the Pensacola area…painted on the water tower that I drive by everyday…everywhere. No way in hell would an enlisted aviation technician have them.
Looking at the information released by the FOIA, it looks like he served pretty respectable time, so I don’t know why on earth he would go off half-cocked and make up a bunch of crazy crap that’s obviously not true. Looking at his training, his Marine MOS probably did require a security clearance – in the Navy I believe it would anyway, and I believe they, too, go to the same school – but I doubt that it would normally require more than a Secret clearance.
re:14
I thought it was Mary Jane Rottencrotch…
BTW,are those french jump wings under the CAC badge?
1stSgt–
All I can think about is the youtube video about Ranger School that the guys from Ranger Up love so much.
“You’ll fight TIGERS!!!”
http://www.rangerup.com/tigers.html
Hey, Mr. Mudd… er, Duke,… Here’s a realistic (though not real) war story for you.
No sh*t, there I was… another 12-hour shift in the TOC doing PowerPoint (92Y, I should be fixing weapons, but my dumb ass had to learn Microsoft Office) when all of a sudden higher comes down with ANOTHER f*ckin’ FRAGO to the OPORD telling our subordinate units’ subordinates what to do, so we have to jump through our ass to make our sh*t fit… then, four hours later, they f*ckin’ do it again with another FRAGO that forgets about half the changes the previous one we just did made and we have to jump through our asses once more. Painful. And, ’cause we stayed late getting this sh*t done, they’d run out of chow by the time we got to the mess tent so it was MREs again (that f*ckin’ Black Bean Burrito one, too). The S3 said, proudly, “Now you can brag you’ve missed meals!” What a tool. To re-enlist for this sh*t, I’m gonna get Airborne School out it. At least some hajji motherf*cker didn’t try to randomly rocket our asses or a shamal didn’t leave us hawking up sand out of our sinuses for hours again today.
Not sexy, eh?
For anyone interested:
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_60ceca5f-c1bf-559c-b11a-12f101c12cfc.html
I’ve actually met this guy once or twice at troop support functions and I have to say, this whole situation reminds me of a good friend I had for years in Texas. ———————————————————– This good friend I had named Mike told all these stories about being on a top secret mission behind enemy lines for 7 months in Vietnam where he got purple hearts, bronze stars, etc. I saw his DD-214 once and it didn’t have any of that but of course he said it was “top secret.” Later after we parted ways I read books like Stolen Valor by by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley, SOG by Major John Plaster and General John Singlaub, Singlaub’s autobiography as well as other instructive books and realized this guy who was my friend was also a poser. Yet he didn’t have to be. He was a great guy who served four years in the Marines and was honorably discharged with a good conduct medal. He was a tough guy, too, and an expert martial artist. He didn’t need any phony stories to be a man. But he had them. He must have had some kind of terrible self-esteem problem. I went to look him up recently and he had died. I was thinking about the fact that least Mike had those four real years of serving in the Marines, so I choose to remember the good things about his military service and the good friend he was. ——————————————————- I guess my point is that Schechter may be a poser and have self-esteem problems but at least he has real years of military service with an honorable discharge. And that’s better than posers who didn’t serve or had dishonorable discharges. Perhaps we should be encouraging Schechter to use the psychological wing of the Veteran’s hospital to work out his problems rather than falling on him like a ton of bricks. I only served two non-combat years in the Army, so I would have to say leave it to the Marine veterans to deal with this as they may, but that is my suggestion… Read more »
If he were actually in the Marine Corps, he’d be in is dress blues, I have no idea what he’s wearing. And 5 purple hearts? Doubtful. Im pretty sure he can get in serious legal trouble for lying about rank and ribbons he didn’t earn.